Movie serves as platform for talk on bullying in East Stroudsburg

Friday

Bullying is everyone's problem, said students, teachers and parents after watching the controversial documentary "Bully" by Lee Hirsch on Thursday at Pocono Community Theater in East Stroudsburg.

Bullying is everyone's problem, said students, teachers and parents after watching the controversial documentary "Bully" by Lee Hirsch on Thursday at Pocono Community Theater in East Stroudsburg.

The documentary follows five children and their families during the course of a school year. The stories include two families who lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter, who was incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus.

"I always taught my kids that they couldn't be bystanders, that they have to stand up for kids who are being bullied," said parent Robin Slaw after watching the film. "We all need to be involved."

Local therapist Josephine Mero called the documentary "excruciatingly painful" to watch.

"It rips your heart out," she said.

Cameras show one teenager, Alex, being punched and even strangled during his daily commute on the school bus, yet none of the students bearing witness to the acts ever stand up for him.

"It's not that you have to put yourself on the line, but you don't have to laugh at a joke. You can walk away," Mero said. "You do have a voice. You have the power and the control. "» When you don't go and report it, then you aren't using your voice."

The screening was followed by a panel discussion on bullying.

The panel included Stroudsburg Area School District teachers Shari Griswold and Steve Rivera, who run the district's Gay-Straight Alliance and Diversity Council; Jenn Lyons, Stroudsburg High School Resource Officer; Matthew Simmons, who works in East Stroudsburg University's Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity; state Rep. Mario Scavello, and Mero.

Stroudsburg High School sophomores Amber Camara and Jonathan Gibson, both 16, also shared their experiences with the crowd.

Recently, the friends faced a rough patch after Gibson found a mean note Camara and one of her friends wrote about him.

Camara said she was annoyed with Gibson on the day she and a friend passed the note back-and-forth. Gibson was never supposed to see the note, but unfortunately it fell out of Camara's pocket after math class.

"John was my friend, and he was just annoying me at the time," she said. "I was bullied this year, so I should know what it feels like, but it just didn't occur to me at the time."

Finding the letter "ate him up inside," Gibson said, though the friends have since moved past the incident.

Griswold encouraged parents to become actively involved in monitoring their children's Internet use.

Unfortunately cellphones and social networking sites have made it easier than ever to bully.

"Having laptops or computers in bedrooms where nothing can be seen is not a good thing," Griswold said.

She suggests parents have computers out in the living room, where the family can easily monitor what's going on.

"Bullying is not just happening on the playground. It's not just happening at school. Kids aren't even safe when they get home from school," she said.

In addition to starting the Gay-Straight Alliance and Diversity Council about four years ago, Stroudsburg also launched a special "safe zone" sticker campaign.

Teachers who choose to put the stickers on their doors are letting kids know their rooms are safe zones where students can come any time to get help from being bullied.

The district also has a link on its website that allows students and anyone in the community to leave an anonymous tip if they suspect any illegal activity, drug use or bullying with any of the students.

"If we can agree to disagree and just accept each other as individuals, then we could all be happier," Rivera said.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.